The applicant is requesting funding through the Research Career Award program to establish herself as an independent investigator of the relationships among intimate partner violence (IPV), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance use. The broad, long-term objectives are: to be a leader in the field of IPV, trauma, and co-occurring substance use research; to develop prevention and intervention programs targeted to reduce the co-occurrence of substance use and to stimulate interest in this area among colleagues, students, and community members. The applicant's strong background of academic, research, and clinical training in IPV provides and excellent foundation for this work. Career development objectives are; 1) to enhance the applicant's knowledge of substance use epidemiology, assessment, prevention, and intervention; 2) to develop expertise in the design and methods of longitudinal investigations of risk and protective factors; 3) to become proficient in state of the art statistical analyses in order to better analyze complex relationships over time; 4) to refine manuscript writing skills to increase the dissemination of findings and aid in the development of prevention efforts; and 5) to become proficient in grant proposal writing to ensure funding for continued substance use and IPV research. Phase I of the award will be focused on didactic training, mentoring, self-directed instruction, and refinement of the research plan. Phase II will involve the conduct of research, manuscript development, and grant writing. A feasibility study is proposed to examine three methods of data collection among a community sample of abused women. Specific Aims are; a) to gather pilot data on the temporal relationship of substance use and IPV events, and b) to examine the effectiveness of 1) paper diaries; 2) monthly, retrospective, semi-structured interviews; and 3) telephone data collection methods. The data will form the basis for two R01 applications. Additionally, the award would enhance the applicant's potential to mentor early career investigators.